Ok....just a 2.7k DK's 2c on the "new change".
I understand that the reasoning behind it was probably something in regards to reducing queue dodging and win trading at higher ratings, but this will not help "prevent" such behavior and at the same time, it's making literally everybody's lives (except toxic players) more difficult.
Why?
Simple. The avoid feature has 2 main uses and 1 malicious one:
1. To avoid toxic players, trolls etc which have no intention of winning the game and simply drag you down with them no matter what.
2. To avoid getting a ridiculous comp vs a very good one.
And the only malicious use of this feature that I can think of is basically "picking" your partners at higher ratings while avoiding the duo queue penalty since there simply aren't many people at that rating.
Now...here's the problem and why this change is ridiculous:
1. There are just as many (if not more) toxic people at higher ratings than lower ones. In fact, most of the high-rated players I know were and still are toxic people who WILL absolutely troll a game just so you can lose more rating if you lose a game with them once, then they will rather disband their team and grind the rating all over again. By removing this feature, you're basically forcing everybody else to either lose rating and pray to the RNG gods that the toxic players end up on the opposing team (where they will play seriously, mind you) or just stop playing altogether....which...you guessed it....makes the bracket more inactive, which nobody wants.
2. There is literally no way to win some matchups at an equally (high-ish) skill level.
For example, yesterday I had the following matchup about 5 times in a row:
Arcane mage/dk/disc vs TC, TSG, warr/ret/disc.
Anybody with half a working brain will realize the moment the gates open, what the outcome will be, if the teams are even remotely close in terms of skill level, which...surprise, surprise, were.
By removing the avoid feature, you are effectively forcing me to lose rating or stop playing altogether in that situation since my chances of getting the arcane mage as a teammate (even though he definitely wasn't a bad player) and losing simply due to an unwinnable matchup are quite high.
Now, as I said, the argument that at high rating people can effectively choose their teammates is honestly a MUCH, MUCH lesser evil, since the teams they face will engage in the same behavior as well.
The ONLY thing which this "feature" promotes is....inactivity and more toxic behavior coming from frustrated high-rated players towards other frustrated high-rated players.